JOIN USThe Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over United States President Barack Obama’s concerns on religious “intolerance” in India and other countries.
“Obama is perhaps speaking of the India he saw through the eyes of Narendra Modi,” said AICC general secretary Ajay Maken. Modi had shared his vision of India with Obama during the latter’s recent visit.
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal also took a dig at Modi saying the prime minister was better placed to explain Obama’s remarks as “they are good friends”. “I think Mr. Modi will answer this, they are very good friends,” Kejriwal told reporters when asked to comment on the US President’s observations at an inter-faith event in Washington.
The Centre, however, sought to highlight the “huge history” of India’s cultural tolerance. “It is good to be tolerant. India has a huge cultural history of tolerance. Any aberration does not alter the history,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
Speaking in Uttarakhand, Home Minister Rajnath Singh underlined that India was a multi-religious and multi-cultural country where communities, including Muslim, Jewish, Parsis and Christians, were present.
Jaitley pointed out that the best example of tolerance – the Dalai Lama – was sitting next to Obama when the statement in question was made. “It is a part of India’s tolerance that even he (the Dalai Lama) found it comfortable and India found it comfortable to absorb him in the society,” he added.